ZADE
I woke up gasping and panting for air. It felt as though I'd been holding my breath for ages.
My lungs burned as I dragged in stale air. My powers did not hum through the walls as they should have. Something was wrong, very wrong.
I lay still, allowing my senses to reach outward for information about my bearings, and felt it recoil in revulsion. My eyes snapped open. The room was familiar and yet odd and dusty.
Why were the windows sealed?
The last thing I remembered was my mate. I remembered her wide green eyes. The way her body had fit so perfectly against mine, like something forged to belong there.
The way my soul had greedily surged toward hers. I remembered the gasp she'd made when my teeth broke her skin. The taste of her blood as I marked her. Our bond snapped into place and then… Darkness.
I pushed myself upright and winced as pain shot through my body. My bones felt stiff and heavy. My muscles protested as I swung my legs off the stone slab I had been lying upon. I paused.
A slab?? I was not in a bed?
I staggered to my feet, steadying myself against the wall as my balance recalibrated. My powers stirred instinctively, but instead of roaring to life, it sputtered weakly.
My wolf snarled and paced wildly inside me. I turned toward the door. It was sealed too.
Curious, I reached out to feel it with my senses and hissed in irritation.
It was made with layer after layer of reinforced stone and metal, welded by magic so old it tasted of desperation. I pressed my palm to it, sending power outward, but nothing happened. Rage exploded through me. I was the Alpha King. No wall held me. No cage endured me.
The room trembled as my anger spiked, and then a deep mechanical groan filled the chamber. Gears turned somewhere beyond the wall,s and the wall opposite me began to move. The sealed door began to shift, and its heavy slabs retracted inch by inch, allowing light into the room.
As the last barrier withdrew, figures flooded into the doorway. They wore strange garments: long robes and layered cloth with symbols I did not recognise. Their heads were mostly shaved or hooded.
The moment they saw me standing, they dropped to the ground as one.
"Master," they cried in unison, foreheads pressed to the floor. "You have awakened."
I stared at them, confusion slicing through my fury.
"Who are you?" I demanded, my voice rough, "And how dare you breathe in my presence?"
They flinched as though struck. Some started moaning prayers that grated my nerves.
"Speak," I commanded.
One man crawled forward, shaking violently. His hair was silver, and his face was greatly wrinkled. Yet, I could smell his youth.
"For five hundred years, our bloodlines have watched over you as you slept," he said, voice trembling, "our ancestors guarded your resting place. We, their descendants, are Monks sworn to your protection."
FIVE. HUNDRED. YEARS??
"People stopped believing you were real," he continued quickly. "As generations passed, many thought you a myth. Some believed your chambers held untold gold, and thieves tried to breach them. We… our ancestors boarded the room completely and sealed it so nothing could reach you."
My jaw clenched.
"And my kingdom?" I asked coldly.
"According to history, like most packs, your kingdom fell into legend." The man swallowed. "You were cursed by a villain who sought your power. The curse bound your soul to your mate. That is all we know."
I snarled. They were useless. While my warriors had been monsters of war, their descendants were frail, fearful, and weak. It disgusted me.
Closing my eyes, I reached inward and unleashed what magic I had left. I forced it to go inward, outward, and downward, into memory, history, and time itself. The memories of my men who had witnessed me fall came answering immediately.
It had been an ambush. While I'd been wrapped up in my mate, Carlos cast malignant and nefarious spells. And so the moment I claimed his daughter, his spell had triggered, locking me into cursed sleep while my power accumulated, ripened, waiting to be harvested by him. I roared, vision snapping back to the present.
I saw more: Carlos tried to kill my body as I lay helpless. But my warriors stole me away, sealinggggggg me here and pouring their lives and magic into protecting me. Finally, I caught a glimpse of Carlos embracing his daughter and praising her.
I opened my eyes, shaking with fury. Carlos and his daughter! Carlos Cloak had planned it all, and she had been part of it! She had smiled and kissed me while knowing what would happen. She had lured me just long enough for her father to strike.
A scroll was thrust toward me with trembling hands. "This was left for you, Alpha."
I snatched it open. As I read it, my grip tightened until the parchment nearly disintegrated.
Carlos' plan backfired. His daughter was now bound to me, and because she now carried my power, she was also cursed to die and be reborn again and again.
While I was only supposed to wake when her reincarnation had reached the true age of maturity. The only reason I hadn't woken up earlier was that each time she reincarnated, she died before true maturity.
They suspected that each time she'd died, it was because Carlos Cloak had tried to harvest the powers before she was ready.
My lip curled. Carlos had played a long game, and he would pay for it.
"Find her," I ordered coldly, rolling the scroll shut. "Immediately."
The men exchanged fearful glances. "Alpha… the world has changed. We do not know who she is."
"Then we will trace her ancestry," I hissed.
"Yes, Alpha." They whimpered.
"I will find her," I vowed. "And when I do, I will reclaim my soul."
I took my first step out of the chamber. I began to dream of killing her. I rehearsed finding her, tearing her heart from her chest, and drinking back what was mine.
"But first," I murmured darkly, "I have a kingdom to rebuild."